Nonblocking punching mechanism for moving cards



y 1954 G. F. MORRIS 2,678,098

NONBLOCKING PUNCHING MECHANISM FOR MOVING CARDS Filed March 29, 1951 5 Sheet s-Sheet l a 1 x ""3 T 5 a Q4 (A m N g s E 93 r r l k COA\\ /l A N V I INVENTOR GEORGE F. MORRIS (\l ATTORNEY May 11, 1954 MORRls 2,678,098

' NONBLOCKING PUNCHING MECHANISM FOR MOVING CAiiDS Filed March 29, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR i GEORGE F. MORRIS ATTORNEY G. F.- MORRIS May 11, 1954 NONBLOCKING PUNCHING MECHANISM FOR MOVING CARDS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 29, 1951 INVENTOR GEORGE F. MORRIS ATTORNEY May 11, 1954 G. F. MORRlS 2,678,098

NONBLQCKING PUNCHING MECHANISM FOR MOVING CARDS Filed March 29, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 2 n IG 5.

. "mi INVENTOR GEORGE F. MORRIS ATTORNEY May 11, 1954 G, F, MORRIS 2,678,098

NONBLOCKING PUNCHING MECHANISM FOR MOVING CARDS Filed March 29, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR GEORGE F. MORRIS BY if 6 ATTORNEY indication on a card, such as a cancella Patented May 11, 1954 trio NONBLOCKING PUNQHING MECHANISM FGR lVHOVIN'G CARDS New York Application March 29, 1951, Serial No. 218,1il1

4 Claims.

This invention. relates to a card punching mechanism and more particularly a punching mechanism adapted for use with a card feed machine.

In the machine with which the present invention is illustrated, record cards are fed singly from a supply magazine and traverse a sensing brush which controls the completion of an electric circuit upon the sensing of a perforation in a selected column of the record. The leading edge of the card successively passes the ends of blades which form passageways leading to diiierent sorting pockets. the leading edge the record. card successively passes the ends of :hose blades in advance of the leading edge may caused to drop below the record card upon the sensing of a perforation so that a passageway is selected in accordance with the position that the edge of the card occupies at the time the pericration is sensed. Such a machine is described. in the Patent 2,003,790 to P. Rieger, issued June a, 1935.

Many times it is desirable to obtain a special b1 311 as it passes through a card handling machine. In accordance with the present invention, a unch mechanism is provided with a sorting machine to punch a notch in the card during its through the machine. The notch in the card will readily indicate that the card has passed through the machine. The punch must be fast acting, the notch being made while the card is moving, thus doing away with the necessity of bringing the card to rest at a punch position before operating the punch.

It is therefore, the principal. object of the in vention to provide a punching mechan sm that will clip a notch in a card as the card fed through a card feed machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a punching mechanism that will clip a notch in a card as the card passes through a system of card feed rollers, the movement of the carol being continuous.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of examples, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitzdinal section of a portion of a sorting machine in which the inven tion is embodied.

.Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken along line 3-3 Fig. l is a perspective of the punch die including part of the operating linkage and operating cain.

Fig. 5 is a plan vi w of a card after it l through the clipping attachment.

Fig. 6 is a sectional View taken along line 6- .5 of Fig. 2.

Referring to 1, record cards l l are stacked in the usual magazine and removed 0 by one from the bottom of the stack. by a l2 mounted on a slide it which actuated by arm i l to shaft E5. A link it is pivoted at one end to the M and at its opposite end to a crank Wheel ll which is driven at the rate of one revolution per card cycle. Each card removed from the magazine is gripped by a first pair or feed rollers 2t driven from a main drive shaft (not shown) and is fed past a sensing 2 which coacts with a metallic contact roll .22 to sense data designating holes in the cards.

As the card passes beneath the brush 2! it passes over a guide plate 25 and beneath up-turned ends of guide blades to a series of receiving pockets 35 (only one of this! is shown). Suitable feed rollers 23. conv v the cards to the various pockets selected by enei the magnets it. The plate 26, which may n mally held up by any suitable means, as springs (not shown), is drawn down whenever the magnets are energized. ends of the guide blades Eli are so disposed relative to the brush 2i that when, for example, a 9 hole in the record card is sensed, the leading edge the card in which such hole appears occupies a position between the end of the blade leading to 9 pocket and the end of the blade leading to the 8 pocket. At this time circuit is made s a consequence of the hole sensed by the bru to one gize the magnets drop the plate 25 and the blades 25 in advance of the card, causing the card having the 9 hole to be guided. to thee pocket.

To indicate that the card has passed through the sorting machine, a notch fit may be formed in the edge of the card shown in 5.

While the notch as can be cut in the card at any time in the cycle of operation, it is desirable to out after the card reaches the blade which carries it to the proper pocket. Therefore, in case there is a slight misalignment of card travel due to the punch operation, the effect is minimized since the card is already headed for the proper pocket. A die consisting of sections 3? and 39 is attached to the back frame at by channel shaped supports 49 (see Figs. 2, .3 ande). A punch 40 isslidably mountedwithin the die sec )3 passed tions 31 and 39 and is connected by a link 43 to the arms 21 of a cam roller arm assembly. At one end the arms 2? are spaced apart and pivotally connected to a pin 32, the spacing being tapered throughout their length until both are joined at and pivotally connected to the rod 53. At a selected point along the length of and between the arms 21, a roller 34 is mounted. A spring 29 fixed between a support bar 30 and a crosspiece i) exerts a force tending to move the arm assembly in a counter-clockwise direction about the pin 32 whereby the roller 3% will follow the contour of a cam 33 as it is rotated, the cam 33 being fixed for rotation with one of the feed rolls 23.

As the cards pass the first pair of feed rolls 23 after sensing, they are directed by card guides 41 (see Figs. 4 and 6), between the cutting edge 45 of the die and the cutting edge id! of the punch. The cam 33 is rotated during the feeding of cards and acts against the roller 36' to efiect an oscillating motion of the arms 21 about the pin 32. When the arms 27 pivot in a clockwise direction, the link @3 and the punch 49 are moved downward.

As the punch moves downward the cutting edge 44 of the punch passes the cutting edge of the die and a notch is cut or sheared in the card. The upper surface of the punch is flat over the forward section, but is cut to form a beveled or tapered surface 52 and a thin edge 42A in the rear section. The purpose of this thin edge and beveled surface is to allow the trailing section of the card, i. e. the section to the rear of the notch, to travel over the punch with a minimum of impedance. Since a thin edge is the only part impeding the movement of the card, the required travel of the punch in the cutting opera ion, in addition to the thickness of the card, is of the order of a few thousandths of an inch. The punch to moves upwardly as the arms 2! pivot in a counter-clockwise direction about the pin 32. The cam 33 is cut to eliect a very rapid drop and a less rapid rise of the punch and it is geared to revolve at one revolution per card cycle. The downward motion of the punch is rapid so that the progress of the card through the machine is not impeded, due to the short time required for the thin edge to pass the card, the rise is fast enough so that the following card will pass under the cutting edge i t of the punch. Therefore, it should be noted that the punching of the card is completed with no adverse effect on the foundamental operation of the mach ne.

when the notching operation is not required, a dog clutch Si is employed to prevent operation of the punch. The clutch is pivotally mounted at 32A and has a shoulder 55 adapted to engage the cross member Eli when the arms 2? are moved to their lowermost positions by the cam 33. With the shoulder engaging the cross member, the roller arm assembly and the punch are locked in their most downward position of travel against the action of the spring 28, and the roller 3:; no longer follows the contour of the cam 33. The punch can be released for operation by turning the clutch 3i clockwise until the shoulder 5! is clear of the member 50.

A card lever 52 may be used for shutting'off the machine after the final card has passed the punch. The card lever 52 pivots about pin 5:3 to open or close the contact points 56. As the cards are fed through the machine, the card lever is rocked in a clockwise direction (see Fig. 3) about d the pin 53 until the contacts are closed. As long as cards are passing through the machine, the lever 52 remains up and the contact points 5% remain closed. However, after the last card passes the punch, the lever drops, swinging counter-clockwise about the pin 53, and the contact points 54 open. The contacts 54 can be incorporated in the control circuit to deenergize the machine.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodinient, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the apparatus illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A punching mechanism for punching notch in a marginal edge of a sheet without interfering with the feeding of said sheet in motion comprising a die member, reciprocablepunch hav a section above said die member forming a cutting edge above said die member and having a surface inclined downwardly towards the sheet feeding direction from the top of the section to form a relatively thin edge forming part of said cutting edge, means for uninterruptediy feeding said sheet said punch, and means for reciproeating said punch including means for rapidly moving thin cutting edge through the sheet into said die member to first efect punching of a notch while the sheet is in motion and to thereafter effect synchronously with the feeding oi the sheet a. further movement or" said punch section within said. die rne so as to cause the inclined surface above said thin cutt ng edge to be maintained out of engagement with sheet material trailing said notch to prevent impedance to the feeding of the sheet motion.

2. A punching mechanism for pun ng a notch in a marginai edge of a sheet while said sheet is in motion comprising, in combination, a die memher, a reciprccable punch having an integral head section above said die 1 -eznber providing a cutting edge and having surface tapering from the top of the head section to form at the bottom a relatively thin cutting edge forming part of said cutting edge, cutting edge being spaced above said die to receive said sheet, means for uninterruptedly feeding said sheet to said punch, and means for reciprocating said punch including means for rapidly moving said punch to cause said thin cutting edge to pass through the sheet and into said die member to first effect punching of a notch in the sheet while the sheet is in motion and thereafter further moving said head section within said die at such a rate synchronously with sheet feed as to cause the inclined surface to be kept ahead of the material trailing said notch, to thereby prevent interference with the feeding of the sheet in motion.

3. A punching mechanism for punching a notch in a marginal edge of a card while said card is in motion comprising a die member, a reciprocable punch having a head section forming a cutting edge above said die member and having an inclined surface tapering from the top of the section to form a relatively thin edge forming part of said cutting edge, said cutting edge being spaced above said die to receive said card, means for uninterruptedly feeding said card to and past said punch, and rotary cam means driven synchronously with the feeding of the card for reciprocating said punch including means to move said head section in one direction into said die member to first effect punching of a notch while said card is in motion and thereafter move said head section further into said die member to cause the inclined surface to be maintained ahead of the card material trailing said notch, to thereby prevent impedance to the feeding of the card in motion, and including further means to restore said punch to enable a following card to pass beneath said cutting edge.

4. A punching mechanism for punching a notch in a marginal edge of successively fed cards while said cards are in motion comprising a die memher, a reciprocable punch having a head section forming a cutting edge above said die member and having an inclined surface tapering from the top of the head section to form a relatively thin edge forming part of said cutting edge spaced above said die to receive a card, means for uninterruptedly feeding said cards in succession to and past said punch, and rotary cam means driven synchronously with the feeding of the cards for reciprocating said punch including means to rapidly move said punch in one direction into said die member to first effect punching of a notch while a card is in motion and thereafter further into said die member to cause the inclined surface to be maintained ahead of the marginal edge trailing said notch to thereby prevent impedance to the feeding of the card in motion, said rotary cam means then restoring said punch to enable a following card to pass beneath said cutting edge.

References Cited in the file Of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 314,221 Carnahan Mar. 24, 1885 1,280,036 Hughes Sept. 24, 1918 1,467,910 Snow Sept. 11, 1923 1,582,052 Klages Apr. 27, 1926 2,211,310 Andrews Aug. 13, 1940 2,300,177 Richmond Oct. 27, 1942 

